drinking themselves to death!

LE

Mr Stedham's family said he was missed
Two men drank themselves to death after one of them received a payout for being mistakenly identified as a murder suspect, an inquest has heard.
Gareth Roberts, 47, and his flatmate Ian Stedham, 43, were found dead in their Pwllheli flat in February.

Mr Roberts had received Â£10,000 in compensation from the Daily Mail after being wrongly identified as a suspect in the murders of five prostitutes.

The coroner recorded a verdict of death as a result of alcohol abuse on both.

Mr Roberts, who was unemployed, had received the pay out after being identified as Steve Wright, who has been charged with murdering the women in Ipswich.

The error arose because the men were former stewards on the QE2 and they were both pictured in the photograph.

The inquest heard that up to Â£4,000 was found in one of his pockets when his body was found.

I hope to God he didn't suffer. We miss him so much

Maureen Stedham

North west Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said he believed he and Mr Stedham, who was also jobless, were in the process of drinking their way through this money.

"Their death is the result of heavy drinking over a prolonged period," he said.

"These deaths follow a pattern which has become more common over the last three to four years where it has become increasingly noticeable that men in their 40s and 50s are drinking for days on end."

The two men had not been seen for some time before they were discovered by police on 6 February.

Home office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers told the inquest that Mr Roberts probably died at least a day before Mr Stedham but he believed Mr Stedham may have been unconscious during that period.

Gareth Roberts once worked as a steward on the QE2

"There were signs Mr Stedham had been unwell, however," he said.

"He may have been ill in bed and been unaware that Mr Roberts was dead downstairs."

He said it was unknown why the alarm was not raised when Mr Roberts died and that it was unusual for both men to have died as a result of alcohol consumption at the same place.

Ian Stedham's wife Maureen Stedham, from Nefyn, said her husband did not live in the family home.

Speaking after the inquest, she said: "I just needed to know what had happened to him.

Old-Salt

Well - he managed to drink Â£6000 of booze. I find that quite impressive. I reckon I'd be dead after about Â£500.
Yes I'm a cheap night out.

"We have women in the military, but they don't put us in the front lines. They don't know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, 'You see the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms"
Elayne Boosler